Amygdala
The amygdala has historically been considered to be part of the limbic system, with connections mainly in the hypothalamus and brainstem. Studies conducted over the last 30 years show that the amygdala has a wide area network to a wide range of brain areas (Aggleton, Burton, & Passingham, 1980; Aggleton & Mishkin, 1984; Amaral & Price, 1984; Amaral, Price, Pitkänen, & Carmichael, 1992;). The amygdaloid complex is a heterogeneous group of nuclei and cortical regions located in the medial temporal lobe just rostral hippocampal formation (Whalen & Phelps, 2009). The larger lateral part of the amygdala receives direct and indirect input from most of the cerebral cortex. The posterior pole of the amygdala extended for a short distance around the stria terminalis, which is one of the two major efferent tracts of this nuclear group (Kiernan, 2012).
…show more content…
The afferent projections from sensory systems and the efferent projections in the parietal and frontal association areas, limbic system, and basal ganglia. The neocortex of the right and left temporal lobe is connected to the corpus callosum. On the other hand, the medial temporal cortex and amygdala is connected to the anterior commissure (Kolb & Whishaw, 2009).
Various surveys on temporocortical connections revealed five different types of cortical-cortical connections, which is the hierarchical sensory pathway, the dorsal auditory pathway, the polymodal pathway, the medial temporal projection and frontal-lobe projection (Kolb & Whishaw, 2009).
The hierarchical sensory pathway assists stimulus recognition. The hierarchical progression of connections originate from the primary and secondary auditory and visual areas and ends at the temporal pole. The visual projections form the ventral stream of visual processing, and auditory projections form a parallel ventral stream of auditory processing (Kolb & Whishaw,